


Bug-Eyed

by orphan_account



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Adrien Has a Crush on Marinette, Angst with a Happy Ending, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Dork Adrien Agreste, F/M, One Shot, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Poor Adrien, Post Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-08-14 05:12:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7999849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An accident with Volpina leads to serious consequences.<br/>A one shot I wrote forever ago that was never published that's developed into a story.<br/>This is a remix of what the one shot was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bug-Eyed

**Lila\\\**

Volpina was sick.

Mentally **_sick._ **

She'd just wanted to show him.

She just wanted to show him that she wasn't weak.

Because she _wasn't._

Hell, who was she kidding. She wanted to show _them._

All of Paris.

All of France.

All of Italy.

All of the _world_ that Volpina was not scared. She had no ties to the girl that she was, nor would she ever be, ever again.

Then why did it hurt?

He'd been in her ear ever since Kim had shoved her in the hallway. At the time she liked it, but now...

_You don't need her._

_She's holding you back._

_Everyone sees that you have a soft spot for her, look at what effect it's having on you image as a villain._

_Pathetic!_

_Weak!_

_Stop protecting her!_

"Marinette." The words left her mouth before she could stop them. "Marinette. No. No. No. Nonononononononono." She surged forward, not caring as the transformation slipped away, taking the power she'd wanted so badly away from her.

The power she _wanted_. She hated it now, despising it for taking this away from her.

She knelt down, pushing rocks and rubble away.

The only _real_ friendship she'd had since she'd left Italy, and she'd killed it.

More than literally.

Adrien didn't count. He still kept his distance since the first Volpina incident, and she couldn't say she didn't blame him.

But she needed her friend.

Her only friend.

She cried out, her hand slipping on a sharp rock.

Her palm was bleeding, reminding her that she didn't have gloves on anymore.

_That's never happened before, I don't think. The little butterfly just going away? It must have to do wi-_

Something shoved her and she fell onto her shoulder, thankfully missing a rock.

 _"Are you happy?"_ Lila looked up.

Adrien was standing over her, face cut up, already forming bruises were starkly contrasting against his pale completion. Teeth clenched, fists formed, he stared down at her with green eyes.

"I don'-" She began. She felt tears forming. She would _not_ cry. She would **not.** She would not give him or anyone else that satisfaction, that Volpina was sorry. Because Volpina wasn't sorry.

_Then what does that say about Lila!_

She covered her eyes.

He was still over her, she knew it, but she didn't care.

"I thought you two were _friends_ Lila." Most of the anger had left his voice, hurt and fear leaking in between words.

She stood up, taking her hands off of her eyes. _"I know!_ I was tired of everyone thinking I was weak because of her! I was just ready to get this over with! They weren't explosives, just some stuff that popped, I promise! I thought I'd just give everyone a scare! Show them that I _can_ something! It was never meant t be this way! I didn't know she'd go back for the kid! I'm so sorry Adr-"

A very high pitched scream rang out, thankfully taking his attention off her.

 _"Manon!"_ Adrien ran over to a small child who had fallen on her face. He picked her up as she pressed her face to his chest, as she was obviously crying.

Lila recognized her. The child that Marinette had gone back for.

Lila saw the scene again, the very _real_ pyrotechnics that she'd stolen going off, the middle-sized pile of rubble falling, everyone in that area running; screaming, Adrien dragging Marinette away, Marinette going back for a small child, the child somehow making it out faster than Marinette, and, no more Marinette.

She was the reason Marinette-

 _They_ were the reason Marinette-

She choked up, not ready to finish the thought. She might be under there alive! There could be a bubble of air that she was trapped in. They just had to wait. Wait for the police to get here.

Yeah. Marinette would be fine.

~

Lila found out an hour later that Marinette was not fine.

\----

**Marinette\\\**

Marinette blinked.

She sighed, feeling Tikki bury herself in her hair, trying to get warm.

"'s time to wake up." She mumbled.

"Nuh uh" The kwami buried itself father.

Marinette giggled."School Tikki. 'S time to go school"

"No school today."

Really? Marinette usually remembered stuff like that. "'So-k," She closed her eyes again, but remembered something. "Then we need to get up to see Adrien, Tikki."

"No Adrien."

"What?" Marinette sat up, and Tikki was forced to accept the fact that is was indeed time to wake up. "Tikki come on. I promised to go see him today."

"But Marinette! Adrien isn't here!"

Marinette was confused now. "Why isn't Adrien in Paris?"

"No!" The kwami shook her head. "Adrien is in Paris, you're not in Paris!"

"What?!" Tikki was making no sense. She was clearly in her room! She could even see the Eiffel!

"Marinette! What's the last thing you remember?"

Marinette was startled. The last thing? The last thing she remembered was going to bed. Or... No. The last thing she remembered was...

She gasped, everything rushing back.

No, no, no, no, no.

The rocks. Adrien, Manon!

She bolted upright.

"Oh, Marinette. I'm sorry." She wrapped her small arms around her neck, or at least, as far as they could go.

"It's ok Tikki."  _No it wasn't._

They cuddled, Tikki pressed warmly to her neck, Marinette sitting on her... bed.

"Tikki?"

The kwami unlatched herself from her neck and flew to Marinette's knee. "Yes, Marinette?" 

"Why are we on my bed?" She looked around. Everything was in where it was when she left it. "... and in my room?"

"Well you see...  _Marinette._ " The small kwami bit her lip. "I lied when I said you weren't in Paris."

She was still in Paris? She was still in Paris! 

She jumped from her bed. 

No way, no way, no way, no way, no way.

"Marinette! Come back!"

She gripped her ladder that led up to her balcony.

Had she  _miraculously_ stayed alive? Had she been in a coma the entire time she was in the hospital, so long that they'd taken her home and her parent were just making food while they waited for their daughter to wake up?

Was it...

_It was a dream!_

Of course it was! No akuma had ever come back, what made Volpina so special? And Manon. Manon was six, but she wasn't an idiot. Of course she would move! No one would stand under a  _falling rock!_ It was ludicrous!

Relief washed over her. 

She needed to go to Alya first, to sooth the ache. Then she would hug her parents, and then-

"Marinette?"

Then she would hug Adrien as hard as she could and tell him how much she loved him.

How much she was in love with him.

She made it to the balcony, and stood by the railing.

She could see storm clouds moving in.

She sighed.

Tikki flew out from behind her and landed on the railing next to her, not saying anything as she nibbled on a cookie she'd found.

She enjoyed the breeze ruffling her hair. She would go talk to Alya soon, she just needed a moment to calm the butterflies raging inside her stomach.

_'....upain. I just...'_

_'Forge.... it! I get be..... love.'_

_'Love?'_

_'....Oh swee...'_

Marinette straightened up and turned toward her trapdoor where the sounds were coming from.  _What was..._

"Marinette. We need to go. Now." She heard Tikki drop the cookie. _"NOW!"_

"Tikki what's wrong?"

Her trapdoor opened, and Adrien started to climb through.

Marinette smiled cheekily.

He stepped out, letting the hatch fall with the loudest smack possible.

He'd obviously been crying, his eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks were bright red. White outer shirt crumpled, he was a mess. 

He walked over to one of the chairs she kept out on the balcony. A small dark figure flew out from his pocket, patting his charge's head. "Kid, I'm so sorry." 

"Plagg." He moaned. "What are we going to do! The akumas. Manon, she was there for all of it. I can't believe..."

Her smile faltered.

_No._

This was some sick twisted dream. Not reality.

The kwami chuckled fakely. "We'll figure something out! And wow. Kid. You chewed that girl out  _really_ bad."

"That's not a good thing Plagg."

Why wasn't he seeing her? She was right next to him!

"Adrien?"

His head came up slowly. 

 _Shock._  She realized.  _He was in shock because of her.... her death._

But she was fine!

She had to be.

His eyes traveled up her body slowly, like he couldn't believe what was happening.

He probably couldn't.

No. She was fine. She was here. She was safe.

She stretched a hand out towards him.

They locked eyes, and Adrien screamed.

**\---**

**Adrien\\\\\**

Adrien lived with his father who made his every day misrable. He'd had ludicrous articles posted over and over again until they'd become viral. Adrien watched his mother drive away in an expensive black car.

So how was this the worst day of his life?

 _No. No. No. No._ Thudded in every step.

 _Make it go away. Make it stop._   Ran in repeat in his head.

He couldn't believe....

It couldn't...

He somehow made to his door.

He still couldn't believe his father had let him go. 

But maybe he understood what it was like to lose someone like that.

No.

Adrien turned the handle.

He didn't.

Scattered on his bed and around his room were the few belongings he'd taken from her room. Legally, he wasn't supposed to do that, as Marinette wasn't family and she had no will. But they wouldn't care if a few journals, sketchbooks, picture, and clothing articles were gone, would they?

He slumped grabbing one of her shirts from his nightstand and throwing off his tuxedo so was left only in an undershirt and briefs. Falling onto his bed, he cuddled with it.

He fingered the seams, breathed in her smell, and tried to pour everything into the fabric.

Of course, he started to cry. 

_'"Je'taime. Ladybug. Je'taime Marinette. Je ne voulais pas que cela se produise pour vous . Je suis vraiment désolé. Tu me manques tellement, Marinette. Ne me quitte pas. S'il vous plaît."  
_

Plagg flew to Adrien's head and said. "Kid. that wasn't supposed to happen. Trust me.

Adrien responded by curling up farther, pressing into the pillow. He groaned, something sharp, hard, and unforgiving pressing into his back.

Just what he needed.

Still holding onto the shirt, he grabbed the offending object. 

It was a book. 

His gut twisted. 

 _The_ book.

The book filled to the brim with Miraculous users and Miraculous.

He still had no idea how Marinette had gotten it, or why she would want it. Marinette didn't seem like the history type.

_What?_

He  _knew_ Marinette. She wasn't the history type. 

He closed his eyes.

_Her favorite subject was writing._

_Her favorite color was pink._

_Her favorite food was macrons._

_She wanted to be a fashion designer._

_Her favorite subject was writing._

_Her favorite color was pink._

_Her favorite food was macrons._

_She wanted to be a fashion designer._

_Her favorite subject was writing._

_Her favorite color was pink._

_Her favorite food was macrons._

_She wanted to be a fashion designer._

He'd told himself he wouldn't forget. Not at all. Nothing. 

None of her freckles, not the color of her eyes. Not the way she spoke, none of her little flairs and laughs and the sassy way she'd speak to him.

Not the pressure of her next to him, or the warmness of her lips on top of his.

Nothing.

He leafed quietly through the pages, silently thanking his father for forcing him to take mandarin.

"Kid, do want to talk-"

"Plagg." He spoke so softly it was almost a whisper. "Please leave me alone."

"O-oh. Ok, Kid." He flew off, probably to find something soft to curl up in.

He sighed. He tried looking through the book again, but the shirt he was holding kept tearing at the pages. Slightly agitated, he pulled the shirt out and splayed it across his knees and put the book on top of it.

He continued his previous leafing, this time stopping to read small paragraphs. 

He reread the pages about the miraculous, lingering on the fox. 

He knew it wasn't her fault... completely. But that didn't stop the anger that bubbled in his chest.

No. Not anger. 

_Hatred._

It wasn't hatred just for Volpina- Lila. It was hatred for Hawkmoth, for the members of his class that had made Lila feel that way, and hatred at himself for not seeing Lila like that.

He flipped the page.

The peacock miraculous greeted him. He turned another page. Turtle. No. Butterfly. 

 _Hawkmoth_.

He couldn't do it. He slammed the book closed and placed it on his nightstand. 

"Adrien..." Plagg's voice came from behind him.

"I don't want to hear it Plagg."

He didn't reply.

_Good._

Adrien laid down, hoping to get some sleep. He didn't bother turning off his light.

Curling up, he placed his hands under the pillow, but his fingers brushed something cold.

He pulled it out. A red and black miraculous box greeted him. 

Adrien didn't know your heart could hurt this bad. 

He was still exhausted from the last bout of tears, but they came back.

_Nonononononononononono._

Just seeing it made her death even more real. 

It was his box, he couldn't find hers, but inside were Ladybug's earrings.

He couldn't. 

He put the box on his nightstand with the book.

He sighed. "Kid. We need to-"

"Plagg."

"You're talking to me, Kid. You've got a problem."

"No. I mean, why does Hawkmoth want the miraculous?"

"What? I mean, why are you-"

"I just need to know, Plagg! I don't know, closure reasons?" he sat up. "I mean, he really wants them, doesn't he? He's been at it for  _two_ years. What the hell could he possible want them for?"

"That's a hard question to answer. There could be any number of reasons. Control, power-"

"I don't see how either of those could be granted though the miraculous."

"Well think about it. Creation and destruction, God-like power. You can't get more powerful than that."

 "But  _why_. Did something happen? I just-"

"No, kid. I get it. It's actually happened before. Someone trying to steal the miraculous for power."

"Plagg, you'e not getting it! Why? What happened in their life to make them want the power?"

"Look! Fine. I didn't want to tell you this, God knows how many people have hurt themselves for this, but," he sighed. "the combined miraculous _supposedly_ bring people back from,  _there_." He curled up around his cheese.

Adrien's heart skipped. He shouldn't be thinking that. That was wrong.  _Very wrong._  

"You know, I thought you would flip out over that. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Adrien ran a hand through his hair. That,  _this_ was wrong. So, so wrong.

"We're out of cheese. Is there any more?"

"Yeah. In the drawer." He blinked.

_No. No. No._

Plagg flew out of the drawer. "Hey." He flew onto his knee with a new wheel of cheese. "We need to talk."

Adrien scowled. "We've been doing that Plagg."

"Don't take this out on me." He poked his knee. "You do know this isn't your fault." 

"What are you talking about?" Adrien let out everything. "Of course it's my fault! If we- if  _I_ had been looking for Volpina like I was  _supposed to,_ then none of this would happened!" He clenched his hands, fighting tears. 

"Kid-" They both paused at the unmistakable sound of heels clicking ontile.

"Quick, Plagg hide!" he hissed. The kwami hid in his shirt pocket.

Nathalie knocked on his door. "Adrien."

He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to right it. "Come in Nathalie." She walked in. He noticed the small shake she gave herself when she saw him. He wasn't surprised. "So." he inhaled. "What does my father want?"

She looked down. "I did not come here, your father does not want anything." she gripped her tablet tighter. "I came here of my own accord."

"Oh?" he knew he was being snarky, he wasn't particularly sure he cared.

"I wanted to tell you, I am sorry." 

"I- oh."

"Yes. That is all." she nodded, "Have a good day, Adrien." 

"I, good bye."

She left.

"Nice job, kid."

"Shut up, Plagg."

"The one time I'm serious." The kwami shook his head. 

Adrien snorted. "Plagg, you're never serious."

"Says you! Tikki says different."

 Adrien couldn't help it. He snorted. 

"Thanks, Plagg."

"No problem, Adr-"

A shriek came from out his window. "Oh, not now..." Adrien whispered. "Please not now."

At his window, a purple and blue pigtailed girl had a man cornered against a wall.

He sighed. "Plagg, claws out."

**Author's Note:**

> This took way longer than I had originally planned. Not the original one shot, and not the final copy. I just really wanted to post this soon, so I did.


End file.
